Arc of the Curve
by Mountain King
Summary: Some people are extraordinary. This can be both a blessing and a curse. For Alexis Castle it's been a secret she's kept all her life, now she's had to reveal that secret and it means that both her and her family learn just how extraordinary people can be.
1. Chapter 1

Arc of the Curve  
Chapter One

* * *

Authors note:-

I work some distance from where I live. As such I get about a hour between work and home to think. Honestly mostly I catch up on a rare commodity known as sleep, but every so often I have an idea. I plot out what I'm going to write. What works and what doesn't. In this hectic life I steal that hour as a moment of peace. Needless to say I often have crazy ideas that just have to work.

This is one of them. Truth is I've wanted to do something with the youngest Miss Castle for a while. As an actress Molly Quinn is under used as a foil to Nathan Fillion's lead and I think she needs gimmick of her own. Crossing Castle over with something seems to be the best way. It will give her the breathing room to get out of his shadow and give the rest of the cast something to bounce off. The recent episode that focused on her proved that better than I ever could but that all too fleeting glimpse demanded something else.

So how about this; Alexis is a Tomorrow Person. Just discovering the extent of her abilities she has to adapt to a world no one can prepare her for, alone and struggling does she deny herself and what she is in favour of a future she can understand or does she embrace it and become part of the future of humanity. That is if it is the future and not the past… or somewhere in between.

* * *

Disclaimer:-

Nether Castle nor the Tomorrow People belong to me they were created and belong to others. This is not done for profit and I earn no money from their use.

* * *

Chapter One

If you asked Alexis Castle what her first memory was she'd more than likely lie to you. Saying she didn't remember, or that it was playing with her dad in the park. The truth was her first memory was a promise. The promise her father made her when he first held her in his hands. She didn't understand the words at the time but she knew they were important. He promised never to leave her, to protect her, to keep her safe and to be the best father he possibly ever could.

He never said it, he never had to, but she heard it and it stuck with her. As she grew up she heard other things. Things she wasn't supposed to and things she couldn't. At first she thought everyone could, she was only a baby after all. But it didn't take long for her to realise the truth. She was different. It wasn't normal to hear other people's thoughts.

Alexis just had to look at a person and she instantly knew what they were thinking. Not just in words, but ideas, images and feelings. In a frantic second she already knew everything they wanted to say. When her dad first tried to teach her the alphabet he thought he had a prodigy, truth was she knew the whole thing as soon as he decided to teach her. Same with her teachers, whole lessons just downloaded into Alexis almost before they opened their mouths.

There were limits of course. She couldn't read memories, just what someone was thinking about at that moment and she needed to see who she was trying to read. Glass didn't matter, but walls did. Alexis could tell if someone was there on the other side of a door, sometimes even who they were, but not their thoughts. The worst thing though was not being able to turn it off.

Hearing people thoughts, their secrets, the lies they tell themselves. You couldn't hide things like that from a telepath, as much as either you or they might want. She knew when so called friends were talking behind her back, how people really felt. It was a burden she hated. With time and practice she found a way to muffle it, hide the thoughts even from herself. It was hard, but she could do it.

Even pretend, just for a little while, that she was like everyone else before it all came crashing back. So she learnt to live with it. Keep her own and everyone else's secrets locked away and move on.

Then she'd been kidnapped.

It was all to do with her grandfather. Her dad hadn't told her the whole story, not in words at least, but he'd gone over it so many times he might as well have. A spy, honest to god spy. Top secret, mission to kill, cold war era spy. Kept away from his family by orders and a need to protect them, but it hadn't been enough. An old enemy had found out somehow, had found her and tried to use her to get to him.

Locked up in that cage in Paris Alexis had tried everything, even her secret, to find out what was going on. When she learnt she nearly threw up with fear. It was only shock and her father's promise that kept her safe.

After that she made a decision. Even if it meant opening herself to all sorts she was going to listen in, keep all her ears open so to speak. It as disappointing when nothing happened for months.

Then she heard it, and nothing could ever be the same again.

* * *

Alexis wasn't angry. She was disappointed. She liked Pi, he was a good guy, funny, clever and liked her. A lot more than he realised and she liked him. Then her stupid dad had to go and be a child again. He was a writer for god's sake he should have known how much the wrong word could hurt.

But no, he just opened his mouth and said the single most stupid thing he could have. She was getting angry just thinking about it. How Detective Beckett put up with him sometimes even she didn't know.

Alexis didn't like being disappointed and she didn't like this wall that had grown between her and her father because of it. Him being both her father and male meant she would have to make the first move, other wise the situation would last for weeks and he'd put his foot in his mouth half way through apologising. Sometimes that was fun but this was already painful.

Getting out of the taxi she paid the driver and for once didn't have to ignore the sexist comment he was thinking. Mostly because he was gay and more envious of the way her jacket fitted, but she took it as a compliment. She was about half a block from the 12th precinct, not too far away but not too close. Alexis tried to hide her nerves and headed to the building. As she did she opened herself up to the world around her.

Brief flickers of thoughts pasted over her. Life in all it's myriad forms, nervous scared, exited, angry. Little things, big things. Even stupid things that only seemed to effect petty little people with little imagination. Shaking her head Alexis realised that was exactly what she was doing with this whole argument with her father, blowing a small irritation all out of proportion.

Then she heard it. Just for a moment she touched something dark, something evil. Anticipation, eagerness, a cruel joke. *Not a bad day's work. If I do say so myself.* That much came through clear.

On the edge of her nerves Alexis pretended to check her Phone, all the while searching for the source. Out of the corner of her eye she saw them, a police uniform standing out from the crowd but not someone she recognised from the 12th. As they walked away Alexis focussed on them, as hard as she could before they were out of sight.

When she had finished Alexis knew that her secret was about to come out.

* * *

Kate looked around the office. She was back and for the first time in a long time felt good about her job again. She was a detective, that meant solving crimes and keeping people safe not sneaking around in the background completing assignments that had been deemed for the greater good.

It made taking Bracken down harder, and she didn't have the pay check, but it was for the best. Looking over the coffee machine she saw Castle talking with Ryan and Espo. Probably getting ready for some wild bachelor party. Lanie was planning something for her along with Castle's mother that promised to be crazy, inappropriate and embarrassing. Whatever they were planning she didn't want to know.

Letting a smile come to her face she turned around and almost ran straight into Alexis. A nervous looking Alexis. She hadn't seen the young woman in a few days. She'd had a falling out with her father about her boyfriend. Castle hadn't meant to hurt anyone's feelings, just opened his mouth without thinking and it came out wrong. 'Alexis, what are you doing here?' She asked hopefully.

'I… I came to talk with my dad, but that's not important right now.' She looked paler than usual and kept glancing back to the situation room.

'What's wrong.' she asked her soon to be step-daughter.

The red head looked worried, more worried than she should be about anything. Don't answer your phone, please just don't answer your phone.' she insisted urgently

Kate put her coffee down. 'Alexis, sweetie. Calm down, tell me what's wrong and why I can't answer my phone.'

Alexis took a breath. 'There's two bricks worth of C4 strapped to the underside of your desk. Enough to destroy the whole precinct. The trigger is on your phone.' Kate could only stare at the young woman. 'You pick up the receiver and it goes off. They're going to call in a few minutes.'

'How do you know this!' Kate whispered urgently, casting her own worried look at her desk

'I just do, alright.' Alexis hissed. 'Can you see the two wires coming out of the side.' She didn't point, just nod in the right direction. Kate could see them they trailed out, down the side and under the desk. 'You have to tell everyone! Quickly, but quietly. They're outside in that cafe just round the corner.'

'Alexis…'

'Detective, Kate. I promise I'll tell you later, but first bomb!'

The girl was right. 'I'm going to hold you to that. Stay here.' Against all her instincts which were screaming to her to raise an alarm Kate strode out of the recreation room, right to her desk and quietly looked underneath. Just like Alexis had described two blocks of something marked C4 and a sealed box that almost screamed detonator. Checking her chair incase there was something both of them had missed Kate sat down and waved her team over.

'Everything okay Beckett?' Espo asked as she caught his eye.

'What you know about high explosives?'

The latino detective frowned. 'Enough to to be caught anywhere near them when they go off. Why?'

'There's a couple of bricks of C4 stuck under my desk.' She said casually 'I think they're already armed.'

The three of them went a pale as ghosts. 'You're kidding.' Ryan whispered.

'Nope. Check out the wires from the phone.' Kate nodded. 'Espo get bomb disposal, keep it on the QT. We don't know who did this, they might be watching. Ryan, get Gates. Tell her the same. Castle you stay here and don't touch that phone.'

Castle, showing a bravery she almost couldn't believe sat in his usual chair right next to her. 'So Boom.'

'Boom.' She agreed, suddenly regretting not picking up her coffee.

Castle looked around the precinct and took a calming breath. 'You know, one of these days the whole bomb thing is going to get old.'

'Really?'

'Well there was that time your apartment blew up, that dirty nuke I defused, the whole pressure plate thing.' he listed off

'Don't forget that time you called me from a bank…'

'Yeah. like I said got to get old some time.'

'Like now?' She asked.

Castle rested an elbow on the desk and looked at her with those eyes of his. 'I can safely say that knowing you, Kate Beckett, nothing in my life will ever get old.'

'Not even us?' she asked.

'Oh we might get old.' he pulled back the grin plastered on his face like that of a five year old 'But never in sprit.'

'I love you.' she admitted. Every time she did, even to herself her heart skipped a beat.

Castle's smile became a smirk. 'I know.'

Kate laughed. 'Stop quoting Star Wars and kiss me.'

'If you insist, your worship.' he agreed, but he never got a chance to. Gates was there in an instant to snap them back to the situation at hand.

'Detective, this better be one hell of a prank.' She snapped, irritated and not just a little worried.

'No joke sir.' Carefully Kate pushed her chair back and let the captain investigate. After a moment she came back up. 'I'm ordering a full evacuation.' She declared just in time for the phone to ring.

The three of them, Kate, the captain and Castle healed their breath. Any second now the detonator could engage. The military grade explosives would explode. The first and last thing any of them would know of it would be a fireball and splinters of wood flying everywhere.

The phone rang and rang again. No one dared answer it. The seconds, counted by the insistent ringing, ticked on until eventually it stopped. Collectively they let out a breath Kate hadn't realised anyone was holding.

'Maybe they think that you're not in.' Castle suggested.

'Then we're evacuating. Everyone out, now.'

'We can't do that.' Kate disagreed with her captain. 'What if someone is watching the door? There's any number of reasons why I wouldn't answer the phone but if there is someone outside and they see a full evac….'

'They might just pull the trigger remotely for the hell of it.' Castle finished. 'Esposito should have the disposal crew by now. That means they are on their way. Hopefully quietly, you sure they're watching?'

Kate nodded, she couldn't even begin to explain how Alexis knew about the bomb but she could think of an explanation. 'This person, whoever they are, got a bomb into a police precinct without anyone noticing. That means they were either lucky or good. I'm betting on good, that means they know enough to be sure. Then there's the trigger. I have to be at the phone to answer it, they want me here when the bomb goes off and that means ground zero.'

'Fine work detective.' Gates nodded. 'I'm glad to see you haven't lost any of your instincts. Still I'm ordering all personnel to the ground floor. That includes both you and Mr Castle. If there is a remote to that thing its best if we are all ready to evacuate the instant it is necessary.'

Kate knew it was the best course of action and stood up, making doubly sure she didn't knock the desk.

* * *

Richard helped usher the officers down the stairs. He knew he had to be clam, collected and appear to have some form of authority. Luckily most of the officers knew him and that he wouldn't be remotely serious unless there was a real problem. six years now he'd worked at the precinct and that seemed to have earned him some respect.

That wasn't an exaggeration. As much as he and everyone else would deny it he had worked there. If anything it was more rewarding than writing. As an author he got reviews, plaudits, money and even women, but there was something about turning his mind to something that mattered in the end of the day that he couldn't turn his back on.

At first it was just research, then it was to be closer to Beckett and now. Now he understood the real reason people chose to be police officers. It wasn't the uniform, the ego, or the image. It certainly was't the money. It was the idea that they had made a difference. Kate had showed him that. Had showed him just what he was missing all these years. A reason, a goal. He'd embraced that with everything. Saving lives had become important to him, nearly as important as Kate and Alexis.

This was the life he wanted, and needed. He wasn't going to give this up for anything.

Looking up and across to the other exit he stopped. Alexis was there, taking to Beckett. All other thoughts left him, two of the three most important women in his life were within range of a bomb and could be hurt. Whatever control he had fled and he ran over to them. 'Alexis! What? How? Where did you…'

'I came to talk.' she told him, 'but things got in the way.'

'You, you know whats happening?'

The two of them nodded in a way that should have made him nervous. As it was he ignored it. 'Alexis, get downstairs now! We can talk later.'

'Oh yes.' she agreed.

'I think we all have a lot to talk about.' Kate added.

End Chapter One


	2. Chapter 2

Arc of the Curve  
Chapter Two

* * *

Kate watched with baited breath as the Captain in charge of the disposal team pulled back from her desk. He was dressed head to toe in blast armour, making him look like a giant blue hockey player. She wasn't sure what it would do with that much explosives that close, but sometimes procedure got in the way more than helped. Taking off the vizor he looked to his team that were at what was supposed to be a safe distance and nodded. They collectively winced back. The Captain waddled his way over to them and two of his team came over to help him out of the outfit. 'Which one of you is Beckett?' He asked.

'Here.' Kate held up her hand. 'what can you tell me?'

'Us, tell us.' Castle poked in. He hadn't left, as sweet as it was she still worried about him. At least they'd been able to get Alexis out, despite her insistence that she could help.

'Well whoever you pissed off detective, please post it on the message board. That way we can all stay very far away.' He pulled off the armoured collar and handed to one of the officers. 'This is not a pretty one. Whoever set this beast up were either a twisted professional, or an amateur that's got more way more time on their hands that I like.'

Castle's eyebrows threatened to escape his forehead as he looked over at the disposal team who hadn't moved. 'I take it you're not going to even try to defuse it?'

'That's impossible. It's already primed and armed. Truth is it could go off any second and take most of the building with it. They rigged the phone as a dead-man's switch. You see right now the circuit's complete. Lift the handset. Boom. Brake that circuit any other way. Boom. They also wired the detonator's casing into the same circuit. Tamper with the detonator or it's casing, you get boom.'

'Can't you bypass the phone?' Kate asked.

'Nope, phone's the power source for the bomb. Even better than that, the detonator is cross wired into the C4. Try to separate them I'll bet good money a back up charge goes off. That would go off like an antipersonnel mine, sending bits of desk out like shrapnel. Again if they were playing military grade toys that's going to be enough to kill you and make for a real bad day for the poor sod trying to defuse Frankenstein over there.'

'Frankenstein?'

'Yeah, that bomb's made up of so many pieces it's a minor miracle it hasn't already blown up. If I had to guess I'd say it was deliberate. To stop us toying with it. Like I said, amateur with too much time or twisted expert. Either way makes for a bad day.'

Kate looked to Castle, this was bad. Like he had said earlier they'd dealt with bombers before. Mad men, domestic terrorists, even publicity hungry social campaigns, never a professional hit on themselves. 'So what do we do?' she asked.

Kate caught a movement out of the corner of her eye, it was Alexis. She'd sneaked back in when no one was looking, probably worried about her father.

'If it was anywhere else I'd suggest a contained explosion, but we can't be sure the charge won't go up. The only thing I can suggest is we build a blast box around your desk. Maybe freeze the device with liquid nitrogen, try to reduce the reaction. Thing is that will take time. Time, again, I'd bet we don't have. Right now our only viable option is evacuate…'

'You know who did this, don't you.' Alexis interrupted.

'Alexis! What are you still doing here?' Castle half shouted. He hadn't seen his daughter sneak up on him. The Captain waved over one of the uniforms that were supposed to be securing the doors.

'Sorry Miss, but this is a secure area…' he began

Alexis, on the other hand, was persistent. 'But you know who did this.' She insisted. Kate's gut told her the she was right, he'd made a hell of a lot of guesses and he sounded very sure about all of them. Then there was the way he'd pushed through all his subordinates and come down to this one personally. All added up to something personal for the captain and Kate said as much.

'No. No I don't.' he snapped back. 'Okay, it's a lot like the work of a bomber I knew twelve, thirteen years ago. The…' he looked between the three of them, the word bitch hung in the air. before he started again. 'She wasn't very nice. Certified genius when it comes to things that go bang. She loved loud showy little presents, like this one. Loved showing off just how creative she could be. This has all her fingerprints, or would if she ever left any.'

'So why can't it be her?' Castle asked.

'Because she's dead. She killed herself when… When we were closing in on her.' The Captain turned back to his team and started barking orders.

'There's nothing more we can do here.' Captain Gates told them as she got closer. 'Detective Beckett, take Mr Castle and his daughter downstairs and be prepared to evacuate as soon as they give the signal.'

'What about you?'

'My Precinct, my ship detective and I'm still the Captain.' With that Gates set her shoulders and walked back into her office.

'What are you still doing here Alexis?' Castle asked his daughter now that they had a second. 'The bomb…'

'Could explode.' She finished. 'and you and Detective Beckett are in just as much danger as me. Why don't you go?'

Castle froze. 'I can't.' he admitted after a long moment.

Alexis smiled sadly. 'Neither can I.'

'Oh no.' Kate shook her head. 'You're not putting this on me.'

'We're family, it's on all of us.' Alexis grinned. Then Beckett's cell rang.

It was loud, unnaturally loud. The whole precinct, as it was six bomb disposal officers and Kate's usual team, turned to her. As it rang again, and again. Kate pulled it out and looked at the number, it wasn't one she recognised. She looked around and saw everyone was holding their breath, everyone but the college student. 'Speaker.' Alexis mouthed.

For a moment Kate didn't know what to do, but there was something in the young woman's eye. Something that told Kate what she said was important. Tapping the speaker she answered; 'Beckett.'

'You're a difficult person to get in touch with Detective.' A woman's voice said. 'I've called and called, but you're never at your desk.'

'What can I say, I have an aversion to high explosives. They make me nervous.' She quipped.

'But I do hope you're still in the building… I went to a lot of trouble, even came back to this godforsaken hell you call New York, for you. I'd hate for it to have been for nothing.'

'Sorry to disappoint, I slept in late this morning.' Kate bluffed, but before she could say anything more her phone was ripped from her hand by the bomb disposal Captain

'Toni! I knew it was you! I knew it!'

'Rodger?' The voice on the other end sounded shocked. 'My god, Rodger. They still have you chasing rainbows?'

'Yeah, and I just found my pot of gold. How the hell did you survive, I saw you explode.' The Captain, Rodger, looked angry, more than that he looked positively pissed.

'Oh sweetheart, that was the thing about our relationship. Nothing was ever what it seemed.'

Rodger either didn't care or had forgotten he wasn't alone. 'You bitch! I swear I'm going to hunt you down and toss your ass in the deepest darkest prison I can find.'

'I still love you too, Rodger. That's why I'll give you to the count of ten.' She announced. 'One.'

Throwing the phone into a corner, where it shattered into a thousand pieces Rodger turned to his team. 'Haul ass! Everyone out, NOW!'

Kate didn't need to be told twice, the count in her head had already reached two. Between them Castle and Kate grabbed Alexis and hauled her down the fire escape.

Three.

Taking the steps three at a time they ran, not giving a damn about twisted or broken ankles.

Four

Kate's mind raced; how many floors did they have to clear to get out? How many were above them ready to come down? How big was the blast going to be?

Five.

Behind them were Ryan, Esposito, Rodger and a couple of officers. Captain Gates and the rest of them must have taken the other stairs. No one was stupid enough to take the lift.

Six.

What floor were they on? Second, first, Ground? What if they over shot, found themselves in the basement with hundreds of tons of building about to trap them there. Entombed within the morgue, just waiting for the air to run out?

Seven.

No, they were on the ground floor. Alexis wasn't fighting them, instead letting herself be carried. They could make it.

Eight.

'Get out! Everyone out!' Castle shouted

'You heard the man! Run!' someone else shouted .The doors were there, Kate could see them filling with people.

Nine.

The lobby was full of people. Officers from the whole precinct had been packed down there, waiting just for this moment. They knew what was coming. The question was could they make it before…

Ten.

* * *

'Richard, Alexis, Kate!' Gram's threw herself at the three of them. 'My god, are you all alright? No one hurt? Come come sit down. I'll get you all some tea!' You didn't have to be psychic to tell that Martha Rodgers was worried. That was the thing with Alexis's Grandmother, she let her heart rule her and trusted her instincts and as good as actress as she was she never bothered to even try and hide that.

'Fine, we're all fine mother.' Alexis's dad tried to push her away. The truth was they were covered in dust and had any number of little cuts and bruises between them, but other than that they were fine. In fact there were no real injuries to speak off.

The department had been quietly evacuated one or two officers at a time before the explosion and Alexis was certain that whoever Toni, the bomber, was she'd counted very slowly. Giving enough time for everyone to get clear.

What they didn't know was why. Why she gave them a warning and why plant a bomb in the first place. 'Here, let me get you some tea to clam you down…'

'No Martha, it's alright.' Detective Beckett said, 'We'll be fine.'

But Alexis's grandmother was going at full steam and it was impossible to stop her now. 'No wait, I know just the thing.' She headed towards the drinks cabinet.

'Gram's, Detective Beckett's on duty. So's dad, technically.' Alexis told her. 'And I'm… Helping.' She finished lamely.

'Helping?' Both Gram's and dad asked at once and Alexis winced. This was it, this was the time they found out that she'd been lying to them for years, all her life…

'Alexis saw someone suspicious leaving the precinct.' Detective Beckett jumped in. 'I didn't want her caught up in the investigation until we were sure she actually saw something.'

'You saw? Alexis why didn't you say anything?'

'She did, to me.' Beckett announced, saving her again.

It was then that Alexis made a decision. She knew it was going to come out, her powers, her dark little secret and she was going to need help when facing her father. 'Can… Can I talk to Detective Beckett alone dad? I need… I just need to talk to her first.'

Her father looked back and forth for a moment and Alexis tried to shy away from his thoughts. He was confused, scared and almost overwhelmed by the urge to protect her. At the same time he was proud, so very proud of her it almost made Alexis cry.

He wanted her safe, but he trusted Beckett. Some dim part of his mind knew this was a big step and that both of them would judge him on his decision, but he dismissed that. It didn't matter what anyone thought of him along as both Alexis and Beckett were safe.

'Okay. I'll try to get hold of Espo and Ryan, see what they're digging up. Then I'll call Gates, see what the game plan is.'

'And I'll come with you.' Gram's said standing close to Alexis, 'Moral support.' It was ironic that while her overprotective father was willing to give her space but her grandmother wasn't

'Gram's, I'll be alright. It's nothing dangerous, I don't think I'd even be able to identify them.' Alexis reassured her. 'I'm sure there's something more important for you to do.'

Gram's took Alexis's face in both hands. 'There is nothing more important than you and Richard.' She said.

'Martha, it will be alright. I promise.' With Detective Beckett's reassurance and her father's prodding Alexis was able to escape to her old room, Beckett right behind her.

Once inside Beckett opened up with the one question that had been on her mind since coming into the loft. 'Alright Alexis how the hell did you know about the bomb? How could you see the wires from across the bullpen?'

She shook her head. 'I didn't see the wires, it was like you said I did really see someone outside the precinct.' Alexis took a deep breath and tried to shut out the thoughts coming from the Detective. 'I, I saw someone outside the Precinct when I was coming to talk with dad. They were dressed in a police uniform, but I didn't recognised them.'

'And that tipped you of that there was bomb at my desk? They could have just been a new transfer, dropping off a suspect, or anyone of more than a hundred cops just passing through.'

'They, they didn't feel right, I just knew something was wrong so I… So I read their mind.'

Detective Beckett blinked hard at that, utter disbelief flashed through her thoughts. 'You read their mind? Just like that?'

'Kinda. I've always been able to do it. It's like I have this extra ear and I can direct it wherever I want. When I read her mind I knew what she was planning, I had to stop her and the only way I could do that was warn you not to answer your phone.'

Detective Beckett looked at Alexis sceptically. 'You expect me to believe that you can just read people's minds and this is a skill you've never told anyone about? Alexis, you're a terrible lier but even you can come up with something better than that.'

Closing her eyes Alexis sighed. 'I can prove it.'

'How, by reading my mind now? What are you going to do, pick numbers out of my head or tell me my favourite colour is blue?'

'It's red really, and you were thinking of the number six.' Alexis told her off hand. The detective looked at her for a moment and thought of something else. Alexis really tried not to blush, but it was one of those things she really didn't want to know about. 'No way.' She burst out 'I don't want to even know that! Really?'

'You don't!' Beckett gasped. 'You can't know…'

'The most romantic thing my dad has ever done was sneaking a burger and a couple of beers in to the precinct under Gate's nose because he felt guilty about not being there and helping with the paperwork?'

'He didn't feel guilty…'

'Not until you made him.' Alexis pressed. 'That, that was romantic?'

'For your father, yes. Yes it was.' The Detective took a deep breath to calm herself down. 'Let's say I believe you…'

'Which you're beginning to.'

'… which I might be beginning to. You say you had a feeling. What sort of a feeling?'

Alexis knew the detective was stubbornly refusing to accept what she was telling her. She was looking for a more rational explanation, it was a shame Alexis couldn't give her one.

* * *

Adrian looked up over the beach and out on to the sea before looking down at his sketch. It was picture perfect as usual. The style could do with some more work, but one look and you'd be able to tell exactly where he was sitting when he drew it.

Flicking the paper to the back of the sketchbook he started again, this time not the beach but elsewhere. It was a little trick of his, he'd close his eyes, listen to the wind and just draw. Taking a breath he began.

Sat there for a few minutes you could think he was asleep, but his hands were still moving. Drawing on their accord. Eventually Adrian stopped and looked down. He'd drawn a city, a vast open city with skyscrapers reaching out into the clouds. A giant park in the middle of the city's meticulous grid layout. Rivers flowing in around and through it with planes and cars zooming about on their little jobs like ant's running from colony to colony.

One of his friends sat down next to him. 'You alright?' she asked idly.

'Yeah, sure. I guess.' Adrian shrugged.

She smiled and pointed at his drawing. 'New York right. You've been wandering again?'

He looked at the picture and couldn't shrug off the sense of foreboding this time. 'Something big just happened Jade. Something there, in New York.'

'I know, I felt it too.' The older tomorrow person agreed. 'You sure it was there?'

'Yes, only I don't know what.'

For a moment they both looked out to sea, in the direction of America and New York. 'Let it be for now.' Jade suggested. 'We can talk to the others later, when we know more.' She stood up and offered Adrian a hand. 'Right now though Megabyte is trying to make dinner. So either we help him…'

'Or you'll be eating take out again. Have either of you ever even tried to learn how to cook?'

'We did, then we found you!' She laughed and ruffled his hair. 'Come on.' She teleported back to her home. With a sigh Adrian followed, hoping Megabyte hadn't burnt the food to the bottom of the pan again.

End Chapter Two


End file.
